Louise Jane Penner (September 11, 1942 - May 29, 2022) | Obituaries – Lake of the Ozarks

Obituary of Louise Jane Penner

Louise Jane Penner was born on September 11, 1942, at Okeene, Oklahoma to Joseph A. and Sarah Nightingale. In 2010, she was diagnosed with dementia. After a decline in her health, she peacefully slipped away on May 29, 2022, due to complications from infection. She had reached the age of 79 years.

We, as her family, are greatly relieved and thankful that she is now free from suffering.

Mother grew up in the rural Fairview, Oklahoma community and received her formal education at the country school in Homestead.

She was baptized into the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite on December 20, 1953, at Fairview, Oklahoma by Minister Dan Smith. Mother learned to trust her Savior, and her faith was rewarded with a special deliverance from her doubts and fears.

On December 29, 1963, Louise was married to John Penner at Fairview, Oklahoma. To this marriage was born two sons, Lavern and Darrell.

Mother lived at different places through the years including: Fairview, Oklahoma, St Mary’s, Ontario, El Campo, Texas, Mayfield, Kentucky and Versailles, Missouri.

Due to some of the difficult circumstances of life, including losing her married son in 1996, she struggled with mental and emotional challenges. Some years ago, she had a special experience with the Lord that brought a stability to her life. It seems the hardships of life helped to shape her into the caring, compassionate person she became.

As her sons married, she accepted her daughters-in-law as her own, and they in turn, felt as if she was a mother and friend to them.

In 2009, Mother moved to the Versailles, Missouri community. Here she found a special place of safety and belonging. As the Smith and Penner families were blended, she filled the place of a special grandma to us all.

Mother lived in several different care homes and was a bright spot in places where she stayed. She kept busy with her many flowers, sewing, puzzles, crafts and coloring. She also enjoyed tea parties and loved to visit with people. She tried to be an encouragement to all she met.

Despite the hardships throughout her life, Mother loved to sing. She also loved to clean and wash dishes. We have many fond memories of her singing as she washed, and how the water would fly. She liked to help others and had a caring heart, often relating to those around her, sometimes sharing her poems, pictures and crafts she had made for them. As she began to need more care, her nurses were often touched by her singing, sometimes singing herself to sleep at night.

She has left us with an assurance she was at peace and that all was well.

She is survived by one son, Darrell Penner and wife Amy of Lamar, Arkansas; one daughter-in-law, Darlene and husband Doug Smith of Barnett, Missouri; one sister, Mildred Penner of Steinbach, Manitoba; one brother, Vernon Nightingale of Fairview, Oklahoma; one sister-in-law, Delores Nightingale of Isabella, Oklahoma; her grandchildren, Kendall and Holly Penner, Kyler Penner, Kaleb and Stacey Penner, Paula and Dustin Matthews, Sherri Penner, Cody Penner, Matt and Donna Smith, Daniel Smith and Kendra Kurtz and seventeen great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her Penner family, Gladwin and Margaret, Fred and Rachel, Bert and Rosalyn, Dave and Peggy, Norman and Florine, Doreen Wilson, Luanna Thiessen, Hilda and Marien Vanderhoek, Bertha and Clifford Klassen.

She was preceded in death by her son, Lavern; four brothers; one sister; her parents and one grandson, Evan Kurtz.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, June 2, 2022 at Beulah Church of God in Christ Mennonite Church, Versailles, Missouri. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Wednesday at the church.

Burial will be at Cedar Cemetery in Fairview, Oklahoma.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of the Kidwell-Garber Funeral Home of Versailles.